Four Patients, Including One in Italy, Given a New Chance at Life Following Organ Donation from a 46-Year-Old Man from Smolyan

Four patients, including one in Italy, have been given a new chance at life following an organ donation from a 46-year-old man from Smolyan (Southern Bulgaria) who was declared brain dead after suffering an intracerebral haemorrhage. Thanks to the noble decision of his family, one liver transplant and two kidney transplants were carried out at two leading university hospitals in Bulgaria. The donor’s heart was successfully transplanted at a hospital in the Italian city of Bari.

On 17 June 2026, a team from the Military Medical Academy (MMA) successfully performed a liver transplant on a 58-year-old woman. The organ retrieval procedure was carried out by Dr Radoslav Kostadinov and specialists from the MMA at the St George University Hospital in Plovdiv, while the transplant operation was performed under the leadership of Professor Vasil Mihaylov.

According to Professor Nikola Vladov, Head of the Clinic of Hepato-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantology, the operation was successful. The patient is in a stable condition, has been extubated, is conscious and responsive, and her early postoperative recovery is progressing favourably.

Photos: Military Medical Academy

At the same time, two kidney transplants were performed at the Alexandrovska University Hospital on men suffering from chronic kidney failure. The recipients were selected from seven patients invited from the national waiting list, having demonstrated the highest degree of organ compatibility with the donor.

One recipient is a 43-year-old man from Sofia who has been undergoing haemodialysis treatment for eight months, while the other is a 56-year-old man from Burgas who has been receiving dialysis treatment for five years. The organ retrieval and transplant teams were led by Associate Professor Aleksandar Timev, with the assistance of vascular surgeon Dr Asen Todorov.

Following the procedures, both patients are recovering in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care. Their condition is stable, with very good vital signs and kidney function.

A further chance at life beyond Bulgaria’s borders was given to a man who received the donor’s heart in a hospital in Bari, Italy. As no suitable recipient was available in Bulgaria, and thanks to the membership of the Executive Agency “Medical Supervision” in the European organ exchange platform FOEDUS, Italian surgeons were able to carry out the successful heart transplant, the Agency reported.

The Military Medical Academy and Alexandrovska University Hospital expressed their deep gratitude to the donor’s family for their humane decision to donate his organs during one of the most difficult moments of their lives, thereby giving others a chance to live. Thanks were also extended to all medical teams involved in the process, as well as to the Executive Agency “Medical Supervision” and the donor coordinator at St George University Hospital in Plovdiv, Dr Doncho Tashkov, for the excellent organisation and coordination of the donation process.